Marital Bliss
by navitor3
Summary: A marriage of compromises, ultimatums and pure manipulation. This will be a collection of about four AU ZoNa one-shots. I'll be adding one-shots to the collection when I can.


**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or its characters, and, as far as I know, I have never heard of anything called 'sniper pirates'.**

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**The Thing on the Wall**

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The gold wedding band glowed in the soft light of her bedside lamp as she turned it around on her finger. Nami took her eyes from the ring and glanced at the clock radio below the lamp. Could she risk it?

Five minutes after nine. Luffy had taken longer to leave this time. If she went now, she'd have time to make it back before nine-thirty — before he'd get back.

They could finish in time, if they skipped all the 'slow stuff', of course. She threw the covers from her legs and turned off the muted TV. She then bit her lip in anticipation as well as disgust. Why couldn't she resist him? It had only been three nights since the first time and she'd ended up in his bed all three nights — always before nine thirty.

Nami climbed out of her bed. She looked back at the ring again and pulled it off her finger. She placed it on her dressing table — in front of her wedding photo and grabbed her tiny silk robe. Opening the door, she glimpsed down the corridor. Then left the master bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Her bare feet made their way down the carpeted corridor and stopped at a door. _His_ door. Nami looked at the clock on the wall — 24 minutes, that was all she had, then Luffy would come back upstairs. She touched the door and listened for any movement inside the room — nothing. Was he asleep? Would she have to wake him? She rolled her eyes and sighed.

Nami raised her hand and gave a swift desperate knock. Light movement could be heard inside. The orange-head stepped back and folded her arms. The door opened and she met his gaze.

He smirked at her. She pressed her lips together, and narrowed her eyes at him.

"I knew you couldn't stay away," he said, biting his bottom lip and running his eyes over her body. Her eyes in turn, flowed over his tanned, naked upper body.

"We don't have much time," she said.

His smirk disappeared from his lips. "I know." He grabbed her arm and pulled her into his room, throwing the door closed behind them.

Clothes were shed, wet kisses were shared, moans escaped — expressing deep desire, as well as fulfilment. Rushed breathing filled the room and gasps of pleasure occupied the final part of their session together.

Nami lay breathless and exhausted next to him and glanced at the clock radio on his nightstand. Four minutes left. She lifted herself from the ruffled sheets, but the green head, still on his back, grabbed her arm.

"I have to go," she said, waiting for him to release her arm.

"So what if he catches us?" he growled.

Nami pulled loose and grabbed her scattered night-clothes from the floor; her robe lay over one of his dumbbells. "You're the one who insists we do it here," she said, "I'd do it anywhere else."

"You know that'll never happen," he bit back, slight irritation visible in his tone. "For now," he said putting his hand under his head and watching her dress. "This is the only place you'll be getting any," He said, glaring at her.

She fastened the belt of her robe, glaring back at him, then left.

In the corridor, Nami rushed through the few steps it took to reach the master bedroom, but, suddenly Luffy appeared at the end of the corridor. Nami froze, her hand reaching out to the door handle. Luffy looked at her — blank faced.

"Oi, Nami, you didn't just come from Zoro's room, did you?" he asked with suspicion.

"Uh, no," she lied. "I...used the bathroom." she then realised what a lame excuse that was, as the master bedroom had a bathroom. "Um, I needed to use the mirror. You know how the light is brighter in there."

"Okay," Luffy said, his eyes falling on Zoro's door, then back to Nami, "I believe you," he smiled. Nami bit her lip with guilt.

OooO

The next morning Nami prepared breakfast, as usual, as she was the only one who woke up early. And as usual the breakfast was cereal. She only made a bigger breakfast on weekends, and Luffy was counting the days till the weekend.

Nami had already showered and dressed for work and only filled one bowl, as she hadn't heard any movement from upstairs. No clanging of weights; no running water from a shower, and no dark-haired idiot sliding down the banister of the stairs. She picked up the folded newspaper from the kitchen counter and carried her bowl over to the glass table in the dining area.

Once seated, she scanned over the front page, her back to the stairs and failed to hear the green-haired swordsman coming down and approaching her from behind. Strong, rough hands slid down her soft, bare arms and warm breath flowed over her neck. "Morning," he groaned close to her ear, pressing his nose against her cheek.

Nami closed her eyes for a second, definitely affected by his closeness. "Morning," she responded in an even tone, keeping her eyes on the paper in her hand.

He moved over and sat down on the chair closest to hers, turning it to face her. He leaned into the chair and rest his arm on the table. Nami gave him a look as he stared at her. He still wore his pj's — a navy blue vest and black pants. His green hair still ruffled from sleep. "How much longer?" he asked.

"What?" she asked, refocusing her attention on the now meaningless words printed on the paper.

"You can't keep me out forever," he said.

Nami looked at him, a cheeky smile sliding across her face. "I'm not keeping you out."

"Really?" he answered flatly, a glint of a challenge in his eye.

"Don't you do anything stupid," Nami warned, looking into his obstinate eyes. She dropped the paper, frowning.

Zoro suddenly grabbed her now free hand. His fingers stroked her naked ring finger. "You're still not wearing it," he commented. Nami's thumb instinctively stroked his rough thumb.

"I put it on...occasionally," she said, her eyes falling onto his left hand resting on the table and a pang of guilt flowed through her.

Zoro looked into her eyes, still stroking her finger. Nami met his gaze, still rubbing her thumb over his thumb. Zoro reached his face to hers and Nami hungrily returned the gesture, but then —

"Yoo hoo!" Luffy could be heard sliding down the first banister of the stairs.

The two pulled back and Nami tried to jerk her hand from Zoro's, but he held on to her finger. Luffy now came down the second banister. Nami slapped Zoro's hand and he let go with a grin.

"Morning, guys," Luffy greeted after his feet hit the floor. "Food!" he cheered and went to grab a bowl from the kitchen cupboard.

Nami began eating her cereal and Zoro went to join Luffy. Her eyes followed him, watching how his exposed shoulder muscles moved as he walked to the kitchen area. The chances of her resisting him on the fourth night were not good.

OooO

Nami got home from work and found Luffy stretched out on the couch watching some animation about pirates.

"Hey," she greeted, dropping her bag on the armchair. She rested her elbows on the back of the couch looking down at the dark-haired, unemployed lay-about. "And what have you been doing all day?" she asked.

"Huh?" Luffy asked, focused on the TV. "Oh, nothing much," he said. "I chat with Usopp a bit. He's not gonna be able to make it for our online game tonight."

"He's not?" Nami asked, shoving herself upright, sounding more disappointed than Luffy was. "But you guys play 'sniper pirates' every night!" she raised her voice unintentionally.

"Yeah, I know," Luffy muttered. "He's taking Kaya out tonight."

Nami sighed. Their friend Usopp's love life was ruining the one thing she'd been looking forward to all day, ever since Zoro had let go of her finger that morning!

"Hey, I wanna have pizza tonight," Luffy said only now pulling his eyes from the show.

"Whatever," Nami said, feeling glum.

Just then Zoro walked through the front door. Nami stopped in her tracks, watching him enter the room.

"Hey, Zoro, we're having pizza tonight. Any suggestions? I'd suggest lots of meat!" Luffy exclaimed with a toothy grin.

"Get me a vegetarian pizza," Nami said to Luffy. "I'm not in the mood for your crazy meat overload."

"You decide, Luffy," Zoro answered, walking past Nami to take his swords upstairs.

"Oh, did you hear, Zoro?" Nami said as he passed her.

The green head stopped next to her and waited.

"Usopp is going on a date," she added. "So no 'sniper pirates' tonight."

"Yeah," Luffy added from over on the couch with disappointment as he picked up the receiver to make his order.

Zoro silently clenched his jaw. "That's your problem," he said to Nami in a low voice and continued toward the stairs.

Nami scoffed and bit on her lip, her eyes burning into his back.

OooO

"I love this pizza," Luffy grinned. "I'm definitely gonna try to get me a job with them."

"And keep it, this time," Nami ordered. She was tired of how he kept getting bored with being a pizza delivery boy and quitting after just a few weeks.

"Shishishishi," he laughed and went back to slobbering over his food.

Nami shook her head, nibbling on her meatless pizza. Just watching Luffy eat made her glad she went for the vegetarian one, even though it was rather tasteless. Zoro was wolfing his slice of meat-covered pizza down with just as much vigour as Luffy, but Nami was not offended.

She watched him with the same desire as Luffy was eyeing his next slice of pizza. She found herself holding the tip of her slice between her teeth and licking it lightly with her tongue. "Dammit!" she suddenly said, dropping the slice onto her plate.

"Something wrong, Nami?" Luffy frowned through his mouthful of meat. Then he started to laugh. "You chose that pizza."

"I'm going to bed." she sighed and went upstairs.

OooO

Nami stared at the TV. The picture really was perfect — and it should be with all the money she'd spent on it. Then she looked at the empty space next to her on the bed. 'This picture is anything but perfect.' she thought. She picked up the remote and turned off the silent T.V. Her eyes fell on the clock radio. Ten minutes before nine. There was no hope tonight. Luffy's moves couldn't be predicted. He wouldn't be downstairs occupied with a computer game for half an hour.

She narrowed her eyes then. —But he was downstairs sitting by the computer and she knew exactly where Zoro was — in the shower. She didn't know how long Luffy would be down there, but dammit she was going to risk it!

Once again Nami dropped her ring in front of her wedding photo, grabbed her little robe and closed the door of the master bedroom as she this time, passed Zoro's room and stopped at the door to the bathroom. She heard the shower being turned off and walking in without knocking.

Zoro pushed the glass door aside and found her standing, watching him — the many droplets of water running down his skin. Nami's lips parted and everything about her said why she was there. Zoro grabbed his towel from the counter nearby, not reacting to her presence. He stepped out of the shower onto the bathroom mat and roughly ran the towel through his hair with both hands. Nami watched everything. He then wrapped the towel around his waist and dropped his discarded clothing into the laundry hamper. Nami was beyond rational thought now.

"Out of the way, Nami," Zoro said.

"No," she said.

"I told you, only in my room — no where else." His eyes burned into hers. "— Unless —"

"No," she answered again. "Here, now."

Zoro came over and grabbed the door handle, but Nami kept her back against the door. Zoro looked down at her. "I decide where and when," he said. "You started all of this; it's only fair that I can make you suffer.

Nami frowned at his words. "And you're not suffering?" she asked, quietly.

"It's worth it," he said, lowering his mouth to hers, "because I know I'll win in the end."

Nami's eyes glazed over. She threw her lips at his with a hungry kiss and put her hands all over his chest, grasping his moist skin as she appreciated the fact that he let her have his mouth. Zoro still had his hand on the door handle.

"Zoro," she whispered, grabbing his face now and trying to make the one-sided kiss more aggressive. Zoro grabbed her hands with his own hands and dove his lips into her neck, still holding her hands and trapping them against her chest. Nami wanted to whimper out of her need to touch him, to feel him against her. Zoro continued his kissing and sucking on her neck, aware of the frustration building inside her. "Zoro," she whispered again.

Suddenly he let go and turned to the bathroom counter. He had left something there. Nami breathlessly and painfully watched him turn from her. Her eyes followed his right hand as it picked up the gold ring off the counter and slipped it onto his left hand. He turned back to her. "I'm coming back tonight and you'll agree to get rid of that thing," he growled.

Nami bit on her lip. She then scoffed through her frustration. "You can come back, but I'm not getting rid of it," she insisted.

Zoro then reached her and swiftly grabbed her by the arms and bundled her out of the way. He stormed out of the bathroom.

"Zoro!" she hissed, storming out after him.

Zoro made his way down the corridor and aimed for their bedroom, but Nami hurried after and roughly jumped on his back. "Woman, what the hell?!" he growled.

Nami got a firm grip around his throat with her arms. "I'm not getting rid of it!" she yelled.

Zoro gave up struggling and shoved his arms under her knees.

"Zoro!" She yelled. Her attack, turned into a helpless ride on his back.

Zoro carried her to their room, slipped his one hand from her leg and opened the door. He stormed into the master bedroom and roughly threw her off his back and onto their bed. Nami unceremoniously fell onto her back and scoffed, raising herself onto her elbows.

"I want that thing out!" he growled, pointing at the large flat screen TV hanging on their bedroom wall. "You knew I didn't want it there in the first place!

"Oh please. You were fine with it until you thought I was eyeing a guy on some ad," she retorted.

"You _were_ eyeing him...and while I was..." he trailed off.

"While you were doing things to me," she smiled cheekily, finishing his sentence.

Zoro's face turned red with anger and embarrassment.

Nami sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you; he was funny. That was all."

"He was sleazy with his weird curled eyebrow and that agency he was advertising," he sneered.

"Yeah," she agreed. "The maids agency." her mind trailed off to that ad, remembering how sleazy it was.

"Nami," Zoro said, trying to get the topic back on track.

Nami's eyes moved back onto his face. "No," she said. "It stays."

They glared at each other, Zoro clearly clenching his jaw and Nami clearly stubborn. Zoro moved his knee onto the bed, between Nami's legs and placed his palms beside her, resting his weight on them. Nami's lips parted with excitement. Zoro lowered his lips to hers and gave a light peck. Nami once again craved an aggressive kiss, but knew he was playing with her again, so she lowered herself off her elbows and lay flat on her back.

Zoro shifted his arms to encircle her head, lowering his lips to her face. He lightly kissed her cheekbone. Nami lifted her one hand and sneaked it into the opening of his towel. Zoro didn't notice and she swiftly grabbed him. He immediately gasped against her cheek, clenching his jaw again. His eyes closed, feeling her warm, soft fingers lightly stroking him.

"Come back to me," she smiled against his mouth.

Zoro groaned, his eyes still closed, then he quickly brought his hand down and grabbed her hand off him. He lifted himself from her, still affected by her touch and stood looking down at her. "Luffy already knows," he said, breathlessly.

Nami frowned at him.

He grinned now. "Luffy knows you couldn't keep your hands off me. He knows he won the bet," he said, smugly.

Nami narrowed her eyes at him. "You told him?" she hissed. "You oaf!" she pushed herself off her back and went at him, but Zoro backed away into the corridor.

"Luffy!" he called, "Come up here! Now! He still grinned.

Nami stood in the doorway, biting her lip, breathing heavy with anger.

"Yeah?" Luffy appeared in the corridor after sprinting up the stairs.

"Tell her," Zoro smiled.

Luffy grinned, naughtily, immediately knowing what Zoro was referring to. "Oi, Nami, I guess you owe me one thousand beli," he announced, "You wanted me to move in here and tick Zoro off by sharing his room with him to make him come back to your room —"

"Yeah?" she said with irritation.

Zoro smirked.

"— and I made a bet with you that you should keep your hands off Zoro to make it easier, or pay me for my trouble —"

"What _trouble_?" Nami muttered. He got to lie around in their house and eat their food.

"— but I know you failed, and went to him every night when I was downstairs," Luffy continued. "You lost the bet, so pay up," he grinned broadly.

Nami's eyes burned into Zoro's, her face red with embarrassment. "You knew the sneaking around was for nothing and you still let me do it!" she hissed.

Zoro snorted. "What did I care if you won that bet or not?" he retorted. "And besides, it was payback for choosing that thing over me," he growled waving his hand at the open doorway.

"I didn't choose it over you, dammit!" she yelled.

"Then what the hell is it still doing in there? And why the hell am I out here?!" he barked.

"Hey, guys," Luffy interrupted, waving his hands. They looked at him. "You're forgetting about my money," he grinned. He and Zoro then looked at Nami.

"Fine," she hissed and raised her fist to her chin. "But you move out _now_, _Baka_!" she said to Luffy. Then she backed into the room and looked at Zoro. "It _stays_!" she yelled and slammed the door closed in their faces.

Luffy sighed. "Oi, Zoro, I guess you still have to sleep in the weights room. And now she's really mad."

Zoro groaned.

OooO

Nami paid a very happy Luffy the money she owed him, and Zoro saw him off at the door with the left over pizza he had asked for — not the meatless pizza, of course, while Nami bolted herself up in the master bedroom.

She now lay staring at the quiet, beautiful picture of the flat screen TV that had started the whole mess. She couldn't help it. She loved it. She loved watching financial news; and documentaries on countries and land structures from the comfort of her bed.

Zoro hadn't been a fan because it had gotten in the way of his meditating, even when it was on mute, and it especially got in the way of what they'd get up to under the covers. The moving images on the large screen distracted Nami's attention from him too often, but the final straw had been the guy on the ad with the curly brow. They had ended up in a huge argument that night and he'd given her an ultimatum, but his stubborn wife had refused to give in and Zoro had stormed out of the master bedroom and moved into the only other room in the house — his weights room.

Nami sighed. She had the ring on again. She refused to let Zoro see her wearing it and only wore it while by herself, in their room. It was a rather silly gesture, but she wanted to show him how stubborn she could be. Not that that really mattered as she'd gone after him every single night since Luffy had moved in.

She rolled onto her side, staring at the clock radio. What time it was didn't matter anymore. Time was just time slipping away now — quiet seconds ticking into minutes of nothing. She then heard Zoro lifting weights. She rose from the bed and walked to her bedroom door, touching it lightly and listening. The weights stopped clanging and the silence only depressed her further. Suddenly —

_Bang, Bang, Bang!_ Zoro was slamming his palm against the door. "Nami!" he yelled.

Nami fell back onto her butt with shock, then regained her composure. "What, _moron?_!" she yelled back.

"Get out here! _Now_!" he growled.

Nami continued sitting on her butt. "Say what you have to say through the door!" she yelled back.

Zoro ran his fingers through his short hair. 'I married an infuriating woman,' he hissed at himself.

"What was that?" Nami asked from the other side of the door. "I can't hear you if you're mumbling!"

"I have another ultimatum," he groaned with irritation.

Nami heard him, but just wanted to push him some more. "Still mumbling!" she said tunefully with a cheeky grin.

"I said I have another ultimatum!" he growled from the other side.

Nami bit her lip, stifling a laugh. She stood up and dared to touch the door again.

"I'm listening," She said against the door.

Zoro heard her voice was nearby. He found himself standing closer to the door as well.

"If you want that thing in there," he said in a low growl, "Then I have to have a say of when it can only be muted or when it should be turned off," he finished.

"Is that it?" she frowned.

"Yeah?" he growled a little louder now.

"Why didn't you just say that in the beginning?" she asked, sarcastically.

Zoro gasped, offended.

"_That_ should have been your ultimatum in the first place," she mumbled from the other side of the door. "Instead of demanding it should be thrown out."

"Just open the door, woman!" he growled.

Nami reached down, unlocked the door and pulled it open. Their eyes met, and they looked at each other in silence. Zoro had a deep frown etched on his brow. Then again, what was new? A small smile appeared on Nami's lips. Zoro had enough of standing on the other side of the threshold and took a step towards her, grabbing her around the waist and lifting her against him. Her legs naturally wrapped around his waist and her fingers ran through his short hair. They didn't have to rush now. There was plenty of time for the 'slow stuff'. He carried her into the room and kicked the door closed behind him.

The corridor was silent now, and only muffled giggling came from inside the master bedroom. Then muffled protesting followed, as someone had dropped a certain remote onto the carpet — with a muffled thud. After he had turned off a certain 'thing on the wall'.

-The End-

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**A/N: Another rushed one-shot. I'll be droning out as much ZoNa as I can, until my imagination runs dry, lol, and then I'll probably have to take a loooong vacation, haha! **

**Feel free to point out inconsistencies in this story 'cause I know it's flawed. There were a lot of loose ends I was madly tying together. I might try and edit it some more if I have the time. I know the grammar is horrible too.**

**Also, 1000 beli, is that a large amount or very little for such a bet in One Piece world? Aah well, this is Nami we're talking about. Any amount of money would hurt her, and Luffy is unemployed, so he'll take anything, lol.**

**Thanx to Raikiri80 for the thumbs up, I hope you like this. :D**

**Please review? Comments are so loved by me. I like to know I gave my fellow ZoNa lovers some ZoNa moments, even if it's not canon. **

**B'Bye now. :)**


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